4

"You win again. That was…very impressive."

Corso couldn't help, but gloat. Just a little. "Impressive? The Captain just cleaned your chrono, Darmas." He never thought he'd see the gambler beaten at his own game. The Captain was just full of surprises.

"Hmm, I'd say you've played this game before…" The older man got up, a clear sign of admitting defeat.

"I never said I was a beginner," the Captain shrugged off mischievously.

Darmas chuckled softly, folding his arms. "Then I'm a victim of my assumptions. Well played, my friend," he said, making a show of clapping his hands.

She smiled innocently, stretching like a nexu. "It was a pleasure, Darmas. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've had a long day." She stood up, extending her hand.

Instead of shaking it, however, the gambler brought it to his lips, ever the womanizer. "The pleasure was all mine, dear. I bid you sweet dreams, and shall any news reach my ears, I'll be sure to let you know." He gave her another of his blinding smiles.

"Well, you have my comm code…" She winked back at him and Corso couldn't take it anymore. He started to head out, but he didn't like leaving her alone with the player either… In the end, he settled on waiting for her outside the doorway.


"I may have been a little hasty when I said we could trust Darmas… Also, isn't he a bit old for you, Captain?"

The question caught her off guard. Was Riggs jealous? How cute. "Nobody's going to replace you, Farm Boy."

Even in the dark cantina, the warmth spreading across his face was discernible. "Oh, uh, that's good. I mean…what are we talking about?"

"Come on, let's go get a room." She winked for good measure. Boy, it was so much fun watching him squirm.

"I-I'm not sure this is...Captain, are you teasing me again?"

Oops, looks like she got caught. "I don't know what you mean, Riggs," she replied slyly. "I only suggested we turn in for the night. I don't know about you, but I'm beat."

"Oh! Right, yeah, me too…"

She turned away from him so that he couldn't see the smirk on her face, and headed toward the check-in counter. It'd probably be more convenient to stay at the Dealer's Den for the night.


They were woken up early the next morning by a call from Darmas, who had received an alert from his network. This might be just what they'd been waiting for. Skavak had been spotted in some local gang's territory. Darmas commented that he must be desperate to flee there.

"Let's hurry; I'm not letting some 'Justicars' kill Skavak before I do."

Corso could only nod, jumping into his boots. He had no intention of letting Skavak get away this time; the scum was gonna get what's coming to him!


The Justicars Brigade was made up of ex-Republic soldiers and it showed in their well-trained forces. They might have formed the militia in order to keep peace and counteract the violence the gangs brought, but their way to do it gave no doubt the Justicars were anything but peaceful.

They hired a speeder and set out to look for their contacts, a pair of sibling, Jiik and Juul. They only found one half of the pair, Juul. The brat had a real attitude problem. Liling could understand that she was worried about her brother, but calling her a 'cloudhead' wasn't going to make her move faster. According to Juul, Jiik had found out where Skavak went, but didn't have time to tell her before they snagged him. Right, did she really look that stupid? Still, she wasn't a cold-hearted bitch and played along.


Breaking into the Justicars' detention centre wasn't exactly easy. They even had trained hounds there! They also had to remember to destroy any 'droid eye' they saw. They had enough people wanting them dead as it was, the last thing they needed was another target on their faces.

Just as they reached the holding cells, they heard a familiar rhythmic voice.

"Upstanding citizens? Hello! Over here! Help me!" There, in one of the cells, they found none other than the Sullustan officer!

"Officer Muwn? What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to share info?" the Captain reproached. "...Never mind, just tell us what happened," she said as she started fiddling with the control panel.

"The fugitive Skavak ambushed me down here and fled. The Justicars interrupted my pursuit and demanded I surrender," the lawman told them.

Corso couldn't believe it. "You should've ignored those Justicars and kept going," he said, baffled.

"I must yield to local constables when I am out of my jurisdiction. I was attempting to cooperate with fellow peace officers."

"The Justicars are a bunch of crazy vigilantes," the Captain informed him.

The peace officer sighed audibly. "I became aware of my error when they put me in a cell."

"Don't worry, I won't leave you in there," she assured him, just as she managed to deactivate the force field. "You better go before they come back."

The officer didn't have to be told twice.

.

Finally, they found Jiik. The kid was in pretty bad shape.

"I feel like my insides are coming out," he moaned.

"On your feet, Jiik. Let's get you out of here," the Captain ordered.

The youngster blinked. "Heh. You're definitely not a Justicar. All they ever called me was 'gutter scum.'" He got up none the less.

The Captain took out the holocomm Juul gave them so she that could see her brother, just as promised. According to the kid, the Justicars were trading supplies with the Empire. That treacherous bastard…but more importantly, they learned that Skavak had gone with the Imperials into the Works.

"Well, that's where I'm going, then," the Captain cut in.

"Are you crazy, cloudhead? That place is like instant death! If Skavak dropped to the Works, you may as well go home. You wouldn't last five minutes," Juul quipped in. To hear the tone of her voice, they were already dead. She sounded almost sad, which was funny, considering her previous attitude.

Corso couldn't help it then. He shrugged. "We're pretty good. Bet we last ten minutes." Toxic ruins and berserk droids? Well, that sure didn't sound very appealing. But if the Captain was going, he was going. As if he could let her go alone…


Juul told her brother to use a tunnel they'd found and crawl to the warehouse, where she'd be waiting for him. Liling sympathized a little when she realised the 'tunnel' in question was more likely a sewer, judging by Jiik's expression.

"Great, I'm gonna smell like rancor droppings for a week," he muttered under his breath. "But thank you for busting me out, Captain."

Well at least Jiik had better manners than his sister. "You did good, kid," she tried to cheer him up.

"Kid? I'm almost as old as you…"

She ignored a coughing noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort from her companion.

Luckily, Juul interrupted them before anyone could say anything. "Jiik, take my holocomm from the captain before you leave. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Don't be so dramatic, sis, it was only a little torture." He took the device from her outstretched hand. "Good luck down in the Works, Captain. You'll need it," the kid said as a farewell.


A/N: if anyone is wondering, Liling is 23; although she looks a little younger. And Corso is 25, so he really shouldn't laugh at her, but he doesn't know that yet.

By the way, I still can't get the spacing to show up exactly like I want. :T Hopefully, it's not too hard on the eyes.